Communication of shapes and dimensions of objects may be challenging for many humans. For example, in conversation many people may use hand gestures to assist in describing shapes, particularly when it may be cumbersome to describe with words alone. For example, the roofline of a new car may be communicated by a swoop of an outstretched hand, or a particular chair style may be indicated to a shopkeeper by a series of gestures that describe the arrangement of surfaces unique to that particular chair design. In such cases, the person communicating the information may often appear to trace a three-dimensional (3-D) shape of the described object. A listener may watch the gestures attentively, and may attempt to recreate the 3-D shape in his/her own mind.
Stores and warehouses may welcome shoppers with signs and/or customer service representatives offering help with inventory lookup. For example, a customer looking for a chair may request a brand name or style which the customer service representative may type into a keyboard attached to a warehouse inventory system, and may receive information regarding a store location of requested items, or an indication that the requested items are not available. If the shopper does not know/remember exact brand names or style names/numbers, the customer may try describing the desired items to the customer service representative to ascertain whether the representative may recall seeing such items in the inventory.
Many gaming environments offer players options of summoning particular objects into games. For example, players of war games may request particular weapons such as bows and arrows, nunchucks, brass knuckles, or various types of guns and cannons. These items may be programmed into the game before distribution to customers. As another example, a virtual community game may offer players options of items that they may incorporate into their particular desired virtual environment. For example, a user may set up a dinosaur zoo by selecting from an array of various dinosaurs and cages, as well as food and cleaning supplies, all of which may be pre-programmed into the game before distribution. For example, the user may select the desired items by reviewing lists of game inventory items and clicking, touching, or pointing to the desired items via an input device.